


Ticking

by anoncock



Category: Discworld - Terry Pratchett
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-11
Updated: 2013-06-11
Packaged: 2017-12-14 16:55:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/839181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anoncock/pseuds/anoncock
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He is the web and the scorpion and the wolf. And he hates him in all those roles.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ticking

**Author's Note:**

> For the quadrantfest. The prompt asked for Vimes ♦/♠ Vetinari.

_Tick_

He'd call him a spider but the problem was that you could _see_ spiders.   
He was the web, invisible until you found yourself trapped, strangled by thin silver strings.

And then the spider came.

Alerted by the vibrations, claiming what the web had so gratefully granted it.  
Like a pet lead by its master's leash. 

And sometimes the spider hates the web for it can only watch the flies fly by without it.

_Tick_

But sometimes it isn't the web and the spider, sometimes he is the scorpion and he himself is the frog. They are swimming or rather it's him – the frog – who is swimming while the scorpion is standing on his back. 

Steering. Leading. Ready to kill with one sting should he ever dare to deviate from the course the scorpion has decided on.

And the frog isn't so stupid to think that he'd have any chance to get away. The scorpion is heavy on his back, the scorpion's tail is always in his vision and its claw rest on his neck like a collar.

And sometimes the frog hates the scorpion for its power to decide about his life or death. 

_Tick_

But the thing it's most difficult to forgive him for is when he is the wolf. 

The dog is standing in front of the sheep, trying to protect the herd. He is observing, he is protecting, he is looking after the sheep. Guarding and watching since it is the right thing to do.

But behind his back the wolf is lurking. Sneaking. Whispering.

He tries not to listen when it tells him about the woods. Of its widths and its deeps, of sun-drenched glades and dark caves. Of all the places where it's not dark or light anymore but rather gray and more gray and where guarding and watching might still be the right thing but where the right thing doesn't really matter.

And the dog tries to ignore him when he says that they could go there. That it is just one step away from the herd and one towards the woods. One to leave behind the leash around his neck forever.

And sometimes the dog hates the wolf for the freedom that it is promising him so easily.

_Tock_

Sometimes he is knows that the other man hates him. 

He is not looking at him at the moment, staring at a point somewhere left from his head. 

He probably thinks he doesn't notice. Naturally he does.

He would never sigh, so he doesn't. Contrary to some popular belief he couldn't   
actually read minds. What he can do however is watch. 

_A diplomat from another country can only be arrested with a direct order from me._  
Shoulders tensing.  
 _You're aware that the Klatchians would have had executed you if hadn't_ talked with the Seriph.  
A jaw clenching.   
_I had to tell them you were acting under an order from me and not in your role as the Commander of the Watch_  
A shock running through a body, almost like a flinch.

There is a moment of silence. He is wondering what the other man is thinking. 

Watching could only get you so far. 

The sound of the clock is too loud in the room. _Tick. Tick. Tick_

''Naturally,'' _Tock._ ''If the man would be caught right in the middle of a crime … then naturally the Watch would have every right to arrest him.'' He could feel the other man's eyes on him for the first time since he entered his office. ''There's little the Klatchians could do against solid evidence and trustworthy eyewitnesses.'' 

Their eyes meet. 

''And as the Commander of my watch you would have my complete trust.'' Vetinari said. 

The corner of Vime's mouth twitch.

''Naturally I _am_ ordering you to leave him alone. I hope you understand what I'm saying.'' 

''Sir.''

Vetinari pulls the papers in front of him closer, not looking at Vimes anymore.

''You're dismissed Commander.''

He doesn't look up to see if Vimes is saluting before leaving his office. 

He starts writing and is not wondering if this is one of the times the other man does not hate him.


End file.
